By Diana Duncan

Whenever I start a new book, I always get jittery with anticipation. I’m about to embark on a new adventure. Meet new people. Explore new places, new worlds. I’ve been an avid book junkie since my librarian Grannie started taking me to work with her before I could even walk.

And, okay, yes, I’ll admit it—like any great addiction, tingles shiver up my spine when the first line (or first several lines) instantly grab me and won’t let go.

Opening lines can immediately establish characterization:

“Being dead didn’t make Jack Mercy less of a son of a bitch.” Montana Sky by Nora Roberts.

“Jules Cassidy was nervous. After years of working for the FBI, nervous didn’t happen to Jules very often anymore. At least not in a situation with nary a hostile gunman, armed terrorist, angry insurgent or crazed hostage-taker in sight.” All Through the Night: A Troubleshooter Christmas by Suzanne Brockmann.

“Meeting with a probation officer required a certain look. A jacket and tie. A body-hugging spandex superhero costume beneath his street clothes hadn’t been part of his plan.” As Good As His Word by Susan Gable.

Opening lines can also immediately invoke a mood with the setting:

“There was a storm in him, as black and vicious as that which bullied its way across the sea. It whipped inside his blood, outside in the air, battling within and without as he stood on the rain-slicked rock. The name of his storm was grief.” Morrigan’s Cross by Nora Roberts.

“It was the egret, flying out of the lemon grove, that started it. I won’t pretend I saw it straight away as the conventional herald of adventure, the white stag of the fairy tale. But when the big white bird flew suddenly up among the glossy leaves and the lemon flowers, and wheeled over the mountain; I followed it. What else is there to do when such a thing happens on a brilliant April noonday, at the foot of the white mountains of Crete?” The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart – (This book might be my favorite story of all. I’ve read it over and over, probably more than 50 times since I was about 14 years old).

Opening lines can also introduce you to characters who are immediately thrown into interesting, perilous, or funny circumstances:

“A late-night urge for an orange fizzy saved Nixie’s life.” Survivor in Death by J.D. Robb.

“‘Norman bastard!’ Quinn de Trefoid raised a brow at the Saxon knight’s arrogance but remained silent. Inwardly, he cursed his own stupidity for allowing them to capture him, for venturing so far from camp alone.” Knight of the Mist by Jennifer August.

“Once upon a time, Minerva Dubbs thought as she stood in the middle of a loud yuppie bar, the world was full of good men. She looked into the handsome face of the man she’d planned on taking to her sister’s wedding and thought, those days are gone.” Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie.

After I dug through my massive piles and shelves of favorite books to research this blog post, I looked at my own manuscripts. The books I’ve written seem to fall mostly into this last category.

“‘Hold it right there, Frat Boy!’ The pissed-off feminine contralto froze Rory Devlin bent over with his Levi-clad arse in the air. One bare foot planted on the lawn, one precariously balanced on the curb, he gripped the rolled newspaper as he cautiously turned his head. A slender brunette dressed in white capris and a tank top the color of lemon meringue pie stalked through dappled June sunshine from the house next door. Radiating the fury of an avenging faerie, dainty raven brows slanted in a glower and golden sparks fired in wide brown eyes.” Deal with the Devil by Diana Duncan.

“Delaney Morgan didn’t find an unconscious naked guy on the beach every afternoon. The wild Oregon Pacific had spilled out shells, driftwood, sand dollars…and at sunset last night, a Celtic pewter and garnet triadic knot pendant she’d hung on a chain as a good luck charm. But a nude man was a first.” Sword of the Raven by Diana Duncan.

What about you? Whether you’re a reader or a writer, or both, you have favorite first lines. What are they and what do they reveal to you about the story? Why do you like them? Please share! (And remember to tell us the book and author).

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Leave a comment to enter for your chance to win an ebook of your choice of either DEAL WITH THE DEVIL or SWORD OF THE RAVEN by Diana Duncan. Please note that to be eligible for the draw, you must be capable of receiving an ebook gift from Diana from either B&N (Nook), Amazon Kindle, or Smashwords (which covers mostly all eformats).

If you’re reading this blog through a feed at Amazon, Facebook, Goodreads or another social network, please note that you need to leave your comment at www.museinterrupted.com to enter.

The back cover blurbs for DEAL WITH THE DEVIL and SWORD OF THE RAVEN, as well as Diana’s bio, can be found in yesterday’s post. Visit Diana’s website to learn more about her and her books.

Tomorrow I’ll welcome my first (and probably only) guest blogger for 2011, paranormal romance and romantic comedy author, Diana Duncan. Please join us to celebrate Diana’s transition from traditionally published to Indie author. Diana is blogging about Grab
Me, Hold Me, Make Me Read Good Books and will give away an ebook of the winner’s choice of either DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (romantic comedy) or her latest, the paranormal romance, SWORD OF THE RAVEN. Both books are the first in a planned series and both are currently available on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.

Please note that the winner must be capable of receiving an ebook gift from Diana from either Barnes and Noble (Nook), Amazon Kindle, or Smashwords, which covers several other eformats.

About SWORD OF THE RAVEN (Morrigan’s Legacy – Warriors of the Light, Book 1):

When destiny calls, you don’t hit ignore…

Delaney Morgan’s ho-hum life begins to fray around the edges when her cop brother is framed and imprisoned. Determined to exonerate him, she starts poking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Things go from extra-ordinary to extraordinary with her discovery of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Naked washed up on a deserted Oregon beach.

Rowan MacLachlan’s no ordinary man. He’s a semi-Immortal Highlander. A Water Mage, a Supernatural Enforcer…and since the slaughter of his entire family, Chieftain of his Clan. Recently escaped from the clutches of the Sorceress Cearde, he’s drawn to Delaney’s newly awakening Powers. She learns her brother possessed similar Powers, and his “situation” is entangled with the magical forces he tried to shield her from.

Pulled into an epic battle of light and dark…with a kick-ass pair of boots and a Bon Jovi inspired battle cry…Delaney vows to help Rowan avenge his family, and free her brother from the dark forces holding him captive. First, Rowan must teach her to control and wield her new Magic.

When passion flares between mentor and student, so do their Powers. With Delaney’s help, Rowan plans to vanquish the evil bitch who killed his family. Even if it means betraying the woman he’s come to love.

One of them may be required to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Can love really conquer all? Betrayal. Evil. Even death?

Delaney’s about to find out. Because she’s destined to be the Sword of the Raven.

About DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (Devilish Devlins – Book 1): 

When Irish eyes are smilin’…beware! Because trouble—and love—isn’t far behind!

Paradise for software designer Cynthia Wagner means uninterrupted solitude to invent a brilliant video game, and save her job. But renovations on her city apartment force her to seek refuge in a temporary rental in the ‘burbs.

The promised Paradise morphs into Purgatory when she meets her new neighbor, a deliciously tempting Irish rogue sporting a wicked grin and to-die-for body. Worse, the handsome bachelor has noisy, drooly, havoc-creating baggage on his hands for the summer… rambunctious five-year-old twin nephews, a baby niece, and the kids’ yappy dog. Rory Devlin is a dangerous distraction—and he’s hiding a naughty secret.

Jackhammers and contractors would have provided more peace and quiet.

Stuck in the Suburbs of the Damned with Mr. Uncle-Turned-Mom and his wild menagerie, Cynthia struggles to meet her deadline. But she struggles more with her undeniable attraction to her devlish-ous neighbor.

Could it be that what Cynthia has mistaken for hell is actually the heaven she’s been searching for?

About Diana:

When her dreams of becoming a ballerina were quashed by early-onset klutziness, Diana Duncan took up the safer vocation of writing. Her first thrilling masterpiece—written in orange crayon—was titled “Perky the Kitten,” and became an instant bestseller with her grandparents.

Her childhood growing up as a military brat gave her ability to leap into a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime…and she always discovers a new friend in the process. This gift of gab perfectly equipped her for a career that involves making stuff up.

Di is famous for using seven words when one will do. She wields smart-assery like a samurai sword, and will be the first to volunteer in a catastrophe. Of course, she was probably the one who caused the catastrophe. She’s fiercely loyal to her friends and family…but in the event of the upcoming zombie apocalypse, she won’t hesitate to use them as human shields.

She loves her job as an author, and claims writing is the most fun she’s ever had while wearing her sock monkey pajamas. She also enjoys gardening, cooking, and adopting abandoned curbside furniture to refurbish into treasures.

Diana published six award-winning books with a traditional print publisher before going rogue with Indie publishing.

To learn more about Diana and her books, please visit her website.

I haven’t hosted a guest blogger in nearly a year. That’s a long time, considering I was hosting every 1-4 weeks for a couple of years there. Those who are regular followers of my blog will note that I stopped hosting guests about the time I hurt my shoulder over-painting. That evolved into a rotator cuff injury in the summer of 2011 from which I am just starting to recover. So I thought I wouldn’t host a guest all throughout 2011. However, that changes this week. And probably only for this week, as I need to focus my keyboarding time on various writing projects for myself and Penny.

But a heads-up for this week, book lovers. I’m hosting romantic comedy and paranormal romance Indie author, Diana Duncan, on Tuesday, November 15th.

Be sure to drop by on Tuesday to enter for a chance a download of one of Diana’s two 2011 releases!

Author Beth Kery is hosting a 2-week multi-author book give-away to celebrate the release of SILKEN RAPTURE, her November 22nd release from Samhain Publishing. The contest actually started November 4th, but it’s not too late to start entering. Each day a guest blogger visits Beth’s blog and will give away a download of one of her books. Samhain author Kate St. James, who appeared on my blog two days ago, is today giving away a free download of A LITTLE WILD over at Beth Kery’s blog. You have to post THERE to enter, not here. Once there, make sure to scroll down to Kate’s blog entry to enter to win the download of A LITTLE WILD.

All the information about Beth’s contest can be found at this link. Authors scheduled to blog and give away books from now until November 22nd are:

Kate St. James – November 10th

Kelly Jamieson – November 11th

Natasha Moore – November 14th

Vivian Arend – November 15th

Vanessa Jaye – November 16th

Missy Jane – November 17th

Jodi Redford – November 18th

Lilli Feisty – November 21st

Beth Kery – November 22nd

If you’ve read this far, the super cool news is that Beth is giving away a Kindle Touch 3-G on November 23rd. To win the Kindle Touch 3-G, Beth says,

A winner will be randomly chosen from a pool of entrants on November 23. The winner must claim their prize, so it is important to come back and check the announcement!

So don’t forget that part.

Happy entering!

Happy Book Release Day to Kate St. James!

I’m talking about various authors and books this week, so thought I’d start off with my buddy, my pal, my lifelong friend, Kate St. James. (Okay, so I’ve only known her 1/4 of my life, but it doesn’t sound as good). (All right, 1/5th of my life). (Maybe 1/6th). (Seriously, a few years). (At least 5). (Since 2007).

Kate’s first single title erotic romance, A LITTLE WILD, comes out today from Samhain Publishing, where it’s available in various digital formats. It’s also available in Kindle and Nook.

Here’s the blurb:

She wants a piece of his rock. He needs her, rock steady, in his heart.

Tess Sheridan won’t let anything stop her from making partner at a prestigious law firm, especially her notoriously soft heart. The result? She’s a handful of clients away from getting her name on that brass plate. And she hasn’t had sex in over a year.

When her best friend dares her to test-drive her erotic fantasies with a gorgeous stranger, she figures, why not? Loosening the reins will give her inner nympho some well-deserved pampering without jeopardizing her career goals.

Zach Halliday has enjoyed his bad-boy reputation to the fullest, but now it’s time to leave the relative safety of the family corporation and prove he can stand on his own in the business world. That doesn’t mean he’ll pass up an opportunity for some incredible phone sex with the beautiful strawberry blonde he met in a bar.

When business overlaps with the bedroom, Zach sees something special in Tess and is determined to convince her he’s the man she needs, anytime, anyplace. She can backpedal, but come hell or high-climbing-wall, he wants the fascinating, complicated sex bomb in his bed. Over and over again…

As my regular blog readers know,  I used to host guest bloggers for the blog, until I got, well, lazy about it. And I used to interview authors every once in a while for my website until I got, well, lazy about it. So I thought I’d change things up a little and invite Kate over to the blog itself for a little interview.

Cindy: Hi, Kate. Welcome to my blog and thank you for being my first blog interviewee!

Kate: Where’s the chocolate?

Cindy: You’re welcome for hosting you. Congratulations on the release of A LITTLE WILD. This is your first single title and also your first release with Samhain Publishing. Where did you get the idea for the story?

Kate: Thanks, Cindy! Like most writers, ideas for stories and scenes basically pop into my mind, inspired by things I read and see and experience. I jot them down and when the time comes to write a new book, I’ll often combine several hastily scribbled elements to create one bigger idea. That’s basically how the idea for A LITTLE WILD came to be. For years I had a book opening in my mind that revolved around two women in a bar. Later, I wanted to do a book about a sex bet, so that bar scene seemed like a pretty good place to start. I also wanted to write about female friendships and show them as they really are, with all the warts and foibles. That’s how Tess Sheridan, my heroine, and her wisecracking best friend, Chloe Nichols, were born.

Cindy: How about the hero, Zach Halliday?

Kate: I needed a hero with a great sense of humor, and I wanted him to appear to be the opposite of Tess. However, inside, they’re really a lot the same. They’re both proficient at “wearing masks.” By that I mean following one path in life to make someone else happy or to match up with a preconceived idea of how their lives should unfold. In Tess’s case, she was raised to be an over-achiever, in a way to help create a “surface gloss” of a perfect family life when really her family has been in danger of falling apart for years and does fall apart, to an extent, during the story (however, there’s hope for rebuilding).

In Zach’s case, his mother died when he was fourteen, and so the natural inclincation was for him to band together with his brother and father, and to follow in his father’s footsteps in the business world when inside he wants to do something different, something that’s distinctly him. At the opening of the story, Zach has made the decision to leave his father’s company, but he hasn’t told his dad or brother yet.

Cindy: Tell us about the set-up.

Kate: The set-up for A LITTLE WILD was a lot of fun to write. I needed to get two very different people together, and I wanted to have fun with it. So when Tess and her friend Chloe are in the bar celebrating Tess’s career successes, Chloe dares Tess to prove that she can have sex like a man, without emotional commitment. Chloe doesn’t believe Tess can accomplish this goal if she has more than a one-night stand with the guy, so Chloe bets Tess that she has to survive a six-week sexual relationship without falling in love. Tess agrees to the deal thinking she can weasle out of it later. But then she meets Zach, one thing leads to another, and Tess and Zach wind up having phone sex without knowing who the other really is. A few days later, they meet in the law firm where Tess works and Tess discovers he’s the son of the law firm’s biggest client, to whom she’s been assigned. As such, Zach is off-limits and she backs off their very new relationship. He needs to get creative about wooing her, and he’s not shy about using his sexuality. The shocker for him is when he falls in love for the first time in his life.

Cindy: Sounds like a lot of fun! But there’s a secondary romance in A LITTLE WILD, too. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Kate: Yes, there’s a secondary romance between Chloe (Tess’s best friend) and Zach’s overworked older brother, Ethan. So there are four points of view in the book. While Tess is on a mission to have sex, Chloe is at the tail end of a six-month commiment NOT to have sex. For Chloe, having sex too early in a relationship screws it up. And her biological clock is ticking something fierce. She wants to make very sure that the next man she becomes involved with is The One, and she figures the only way to do that is to get to know him on a non-sexual level first.

However, Chloe’s also allergic to what she calls “suits”—business types. So when she meets Ethan Halliday and develops an instant connection with him, she tries to stay far, far away. Of course it doesn’t work. In the end, love prevails, for both Tess and Chloe. And for both the Halliday men.

Cindy: What else do you have on the go?

Kate: I started off writing humorous erotic romance novellas for Red Sage Publishing. My first three releases appeared in the Secrets novellas anthologies (Secrets 21, Secrets 26 and Secrets 28). Then, this October, my first erotica short story, Tea for Three, released from Ellora’s Cave Exotika Quickies. It’s a menage story also set in Vancouver, Canada, like A LITTLE WILD. I didn’t write A LITTLE WILD and Tea for Three at the same time. I just happened to sell them within several weeks of each other and so the release dates are only a few weeks apart. More information about Tea for Three can be found at Ellora’s Cave or on my website.

Cindy: Thank you, Kate! Best of luck with A LITTLE WILD and Tea for Three. Happy Release Day and Millions of Sales to you!

Kate: From your lips to readers’ ears. Thank you for having me on your blog!

Cindy: Thank you for agreeing to be here on such short notice.

Kate: Not a problem! Kisses!

Cindy: Smmmmmooooooooooooch!

Hugs all around.

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Information about all of Kate’s books can be found on her website: www.katestjames.com. Like her Facebook page or follow her on Twitter. Now. Because I said so. And you are under my power (getting sleepy, very sleepy).

Okay, you can like my Facebook page, too. Or follow me on Twitter (very, very sleepy).

The best deal for Kate and me? Like and follow us both!

I’m thrilled as polka-dot buttons to report that Penny has sold an erotica short story to Ellora’s Cave, one of the premiere publishers of erotic romance and erotica. This is Penny’s first “erotica.” The rest of her sales and releases have been erotic romance.

What’s the difference, you ask? Well, erotica is more about the character’s sexual discovery and doesn’t necessarily need to end with a committed relationship. Erotic romance usually features character arcs for both hero and heroine, and once the hero and heroine have slept together they don’t sleep with other partners.

The name of the story is Tea for Three, and it’s set in a Vancouver tea shop.

If you can’t guess, it’s a ménage story. Super-hot! Sizzling! Fry off your toes!

Congratulations, Penny!

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE books are the earliest influence I can remember (other than Dr. Seuss) that made me want to become a writer. Well, Dr. Seuss didn’t make me want to be a writer so much as he made me want to learn to read. And I did learn to read as a preschooler, through the Dr. Seuss books. I didn’t go to Kindergarten (it didn’t exist in my little backwoods community and this was a few decades ago!), and, because I’m born in January, I was 6 and a half by the time I entered grade one. I would have been bored to tears if I hadn’t learned to read before grade one.

I most likely “taught myself” to read because my older sister, two grades ahead of me in school, would sit and read with my parents for her homework. I was a bit competitive, so was in there like a dirty shirt. If Big Sis was learning to read, then, by gum, I was learning to read, too!

So by the time I entered grade one, at six and a half, I was reading at a grade three level. Big Sis was in grade three. Makes sense.

My grade three teacher, Mrs. Brady, loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and read them to us every day. I fell in love with them, too. I must have read each book three times over the next couple of years. I identified with Laura because she had dark hair and had to wear pink all the time whereas her blonde sister got to wear blue. Yes, my mother was forever forcing me into pink. I was a tomboy (which is weird, because I have no athletic ability whatsoever…oh, yeah, I was competing with my brother, the only boy, for my father’s attention—that’s why I was a tomboy) (have I mentioned I’m a middle child?). As I said, I was a tomboy, and what tomboy wants to wear pink?

We also lived in a very tiny farming community that, to this day, doesn’t have a stop sign or a store of any kind. Laura came from a pioneering family, and as a child I felt pretty much that way about myself. Especially when a bear happened into the yard.

Did you know there’s a blog devoted to all things Laura Ingalls Wilder? Well, there is. It’s called Laura’s Little Houses. And it’s worth a visit.

My favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book was ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK. Do you have a favorite Laura book? Or a favorite author from your childhood? One who inspired your love of reading or led to dreams of becoming a writer?

My grade seven teacher loved Ray Bradbury and read Bradbury short stories to us nearly every day. Ray was fun. But Ray wasn’t Laura.

It’s Laura for me!

It’s only the middle of January. I can still enthrall you with the books I read over the holidays, right?

I did a lot of reading “out of genre,” as they say (as in not in the genres I write). And I can recommend each and every book. I’m not great at writing reviews—it takes too much brain power—so I’m posting the book covers and links to the authors’ websites and the back cover copy. That way, if something catches your eye, you have a clickable way to find out more. 

Yes, I know I’m the epitome of graciousness. Send me chocolate for Valentine’s Day and we’ll call it even.

First up,  a memoir. A “Kimoir,” as the author, Kim Stagliano, calls it: ALL I CAN HANDLE: I’m No Mother Theresa (A life Raising Three Daughters with Autism).

I met Kim on-line a few years ago, on an old ChickLit writers listserv. She was writing somewhat of a mystery novel, if I recall. Her personality popped out at me. So when she sold her memoir about raising her three daughters with autism, I knew I’d want to buy it. I was helped along by having read Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. I loved that book, so bought Wolf at the Table, another of Burroughs’s memories. Because Kim had mentioned Burroughs’s brother, John Elder Robison, penning a memoir about having Asperger’s Syndrome and I’d become interested in Kim’s battle with autism through the listserv and her blog, I bought (and loved) Robison’s book, Look Me in the Eye. Well, I couldn’t read Burroughs’s books and Robison’s book and then not read Kim’s book, could I? 

I really enjoyed her memoir. Right now, autism and vaccines are in the news again. I don’t personally know anyone with autism, or anyone who has a child with autism (that I know of, although I suspect I did know a person or two with Asperger’s Syndrome when I was growing up), so I’m not taking sides in that debate. Don’t try to get me to.

Whatever your position on the vaccines and their influence, Kim’s memoir is worth a read. She has a great sense of humor, and she’s a mother bear warrior. I have to admire her mettle.

About ALL I CAN HANDLE:

How one woman raises three autistic daughters, loses one at Disneyworld, stays married, has sex, bakes gluten-free, goes broke, and keeps her sense of humor.

“Dr. Spock? Check. Penelope Ann Leach (Remember her?)? Check. What to Expect When You’re Expecting? Check. I had a seven-hundred–dollar Bellini crib for God’s sake!” So begins Kim Stagliano’s electrifying, hilarious tale of her family’s journey raising three daughters with autism. With her funny, startling, and illuminating first book, Stagliano joins the ranks of bestselling memoirists like David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs. With her willingness to lay everything on the table—family, friends, and enemies to basement floods to birth days to (possible) heroin addictions—she eviscerates and celebrates the absurd.

Whether she’s going commando to rescue a daughter from a potentially embarrassing situation or accidentally stealing electric fans, she and her family are seemingly always on the edge of a Stagtastrophe. From her love of Howard Stern to her increasing activism in the autism community and exhaustive search for treatments that will help her daughters, she explores her life with vigor and humor. Always outspoken, often touching, and sometimes heart breaking, Kim Stagliano is a powerful new voice in comedic writing—her “Kimoir” (as she calls it) will be a must-read for everyone within the autism community. More than that, it’s the debut of a new voice that will entertain everyone who reads it.

ALL I CAN HANDLE released in November, 2010 from Skyhorse Publishing. If you enjoy memoirs, check it out!

From Kim’s book, I progressed to STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova. STILL ALICE is a novel about a 50-year-old woman faced with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s an excellent read, whether or not you know someone struggling with EOAD or regular ol’ AD, or various forms of dementia.

About STILL ALICE:

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman’s sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer’s disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University.

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what’s it’s like to literally lose your mind…

Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

What’s interesting about STILL ALICE is that it began as a self-published novel, then was picked up Pocket Books, a major publisher. That doesn’t happen very often. I’m so glad it happened in this case. You can read about Genova’s self-publishing endeavor on the FAQ page of her website. Like it says on her website, this book is a novel, but it reads like a memoir. That’s part of what makes it so fascinating. Genova’s second novel, Left Neglected, about a working mom who suffers a traumatic brain injury, has just been published. Oddly, I can’t seem to find a central website for Genova. Instead, she has websites devoted to each of her books. Here’s the link for STILL ALICE again.

Finally, I read HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger. Youngest Son bought it for me for Christmas, and I ate it up. I enjoyed The Time Traveler’s Wife (also by Niffenegger) when I read it last year. But I adored HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY. There’s headhopping all over the place, so if you don’t like headhopping, this might not be the book for you. However, it’s not a romance, where headhopping  is often frowned upon (because it can have the effect of distancing you from the characters, and in romance you usually want your reader in the hero and heroine’s minds as much as possible). HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY is a literary novel. So the omniscient point of view works. And the ghost story element is ultra cool.

About HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY:

Julia and Valentina Poole are twenty-year-old sisters with an intense attachment to each other. One morning the mailman delivers a thick envelope to their house in the suburbs of Chicago. Their English aunt, Elspeth Noblin, has died of cancer and left them her London apartment. There are two conditions for this inheritance: that they live in the flat for a year before they sell it and that their parents not enter it. Julia and Valentina are twins. So were the girls’ aunt Elspeth and their mother, Edie.

The girls move to Elspeth’s flat, which borders the vast Highgate Cemetery, where Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Stella Gibbons, and other luminaries are buried. Julia and Valentina become involved with their living neighbors: Martin, a composer of crossword puzzles who suffers from crippling OCD, and Robert, Elspeth’s elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. They also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including—perhaps—their aunt.

When the cover copy says the girls are twins, it doesn’t mention that they are mirror image twins, and I wondered if there is such a thing. Apparently there is, although one twin having her heart on the right side of her chest, like in the book, is rare.

My husband’s mother is a fraternal twin (two eggs). Her mother was a twin (I don’t know if she was identical or fraternal) who was pregnant 3 times and had 5 babies. Yes, two sets of fraternal twins. Only her first pregnancy made one baby. I find that mighty interesting, so the concept for HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY grabbed me. I’m now looking forward to Niffenegger’s next book.

What interesting books have you read lately?